Tv 


Rev.  Dr.  SAMUEL  H.  VIRGIN'S 
SERMON  AT  THE  SIXTY-SIXTH  ANNIVERSARY 


OF  THE 


AMERICAN  SEAMEN’S  FRIEND  SOCIETY, 

:*  li*.  -r; 
<■ 


THE  MASTERSHIP  OF  THE  SEA: 


A DISCOURSE  BEFORE  THE 


fimepican  Seamen’s  Fpiend  Soeieliv', 

AT  ITS 

SIXTY-SIXTH  ANNIVERSARY, 


Sunday  evening,  JVIay  7,  1894, 


Rev.  SAMUEL  H.  VIRGIN,  D.D.,  LL.D., 


IN  THE 


PILGRIM  OHUBOH,  MADISON  AVE.  AND  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-FIRST  ST., 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


AMERICAN  SEAMEN’S  FRIEND  SOCIETY, 

76  WALL  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 

1894. 


SERMON. 


We  all  have  an  interest  in  the  deep  and  dark  blue  ocean,  in  the 
ships  that  sail  upon  it,  in  the  men  whose  lives  are  spent  upon  its  rest- 
less surface,  and  in  the  Society  that  seeks  their  temporal  and  spiritual 
welfare.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  is  more  suggestive  of  trans- 
cendant  interests  than  any  other  term  descriptive  of  human  enter- 
prise. The  weaving  together  of  the  nations  by  many  reticulated 
threads,  the  reciprocal  interchange  of  natural  products  and  fabrics 
that  reveal  the  touch  of  human  brain  and  band,  the  occult  forces 
that  underlie  the  seaman’s  life  are  the  most  cosmic  and  potential  in 
the  world  to-day.  The  mightiest  cities,  the  nerve  centers  of  civiliza- 
tion are  thus  made,  the  most  eager  activities  are  thus  stimulated,  the 
most  daring  enterprises  are  thus  developed  and  the  most  colossal 
results  are  thus  accomplished. 

It  is  by  the  sea  that  humanity  has  reached  its  highest  levels.  The 
mightiest  and  most  opulent  nations  of  both  ancient  and  modern 
times  have  had  superlative  maritime  interests.  By  the  deep  sea  and 
music  of  its  roar  there  is  still  place  for  devout  meditation,  as  well  as 
for  enthusiastic  toils.  As  the  iron  track  that  binds  a country  village 
to  the  great  metropolis  becomes  a highway  for  the  passage  of  its 
teeming  life  to  quiet  retreats,  so  the  ocean  pathway  that  now  stretches 
from  every  shore  with  its  many  signs  and  signals,  its  boulevards  and 
avenues,  opens  into  every  region  the  best  of  all,  is  peopled  by  a busy 
throng  who  are  the  happy  servants  of  all ; so  that  the  American 
Seamen’s  Friend  Society  is  the  hierophant  of  the  world. 

If  some  great  phonograph  could  have  gathered  into  its  mystic 
chambers  its  vocal  ministry  on  every  shore  and  where  only  sea  and 
sky  are  found,  and  received  also  the  loving  response  of  human  hearts 
and  the  abundant  testimony  of  human  lips  to  its  worth,  and  the 
multitudinous  voices  that  make  the  roar  in  the  sea  shell,  it  would 
have  been  a peerless  privilege  for  me  simply  to  have  given  the  won- 
derful instrument  the  pulpit  this  morning.  Then  the  voices  of  the 
three  million  men  that  sail  the  seas  would  reach  your  ears,  the  out- 
cries of  the  innumerable  host  that  during  past  ages  have  pursued  this 
calling  would  come  to  your  sentient  spirits,  the  awful  medleys  of  sin 


4 


and  the  gracious  words  of  Christian  discipleship  would  succeed  each 
other  in  rapid  succession  ; the  tenderest  utterances  that  ever  blessed 
human  lips  would  sound  forth  again,  and  bitterness  and  blasphemy 
fit  only  for  the  abodes  of  hell  would  burden  this  Sabbath  air.  From 
single  ships  whose  sailors  outnumber  the  dwellers  in  many  a village, 
(so  vast  and  comprehensive,  so  perfect  a microcosm  is  the  ocean 
steamer  of  to-day),  would  rise  the  tones  that  mark  every  condition  of 
character  and  conduct  and  age  and  desire,  from  the  sick  and  lone- 
some boy  whose  runaway  impulse  has  long  been  regretted,  to  the  hush 
of  prayer  and  the  splash  of  the  wave  as  the  solemn  burial  at  sea  is 
accomplished.  The  voice  of  the  preacher  and  the  earnest  tones  of 
the  wayside  laborer  would  be  caught,  the  volume  of  song  from  hoarse 
and  manly  crowds  in  worshipping  assemblies,  and  the  broken  tones  of 
the  believing  disciple  singing  to  cheer  a messmate  into  the  eternal 
harbor,  far  from  home  and  kindred, — a world  of  sounds  would  inter- 
pret the  life  at  sea  to  us. 

This  we  can  have  only  in  imagination  ; the  reality  is  this  common 
assembly  for  the  ordinary  address,  quite  incompetent  to  the  occasion. 
We  welcome  most  heartily  within  the  hospitable  walls  of  Pilgrim 
Church  the  American  Seamen’s  Friend  Society  at  this  Sixty- 
Sixth  Anniversary,  both  on  account  of  its  winsome  name,  its  noble 
purpose,  its  present  achievements  and  its  superb  and  shining  history. 
The  seal  of  the  Master  of  Assemblies  is  conspicuous  upon  its  docu- 
ments and  its  efforts.  The  land  and  the  sea  alike  are  witnesses  of  its 
triumphs.  The  waves  of  ocean  sing  them  as  they  break  on  every 
shore,  and  the  waves  of  the  bounding  chorus  of  the  skies  swell  the 
praise  of  its  accomplished  work  as  they  roll  in  rhythmic  measure  on 
the  shores  of  eternity.  Its  flashing  lights  that  gleam  in  the  darkness 
of  a sinful  world  outrival  the  fires  that  consume  the  darkness  of  the 
night  and  warn  the  mariner  from  dangerous  coasts  ; its  sweet,  wooing 
voices  that  burden  every  breeze  that  blows  are  tenderer  than  the  good- 
byes of  mothers  whose  sons  must  brave  the  dangers  of  the  deep,  more 
potent  for  good  than  the  countless  calls  that  with  siren  charm  invite 
tojthe  delectable  spots  of  earth. 

We  have  here  celebrated  many  of  the  grandest  spiritual  enterprises 
of  this  world;  we  have  rehearsed  the  stories  of  heroic  adventure  for 
Christ  and  lauded  the  work  and  the  workers  ; we  have  marked  the 
anniversaries  of  grand  societies  carrying  forward  the  activities  of  tlie 
kingdom  of  Christ ; we  have  cried  to  the  eagle-eyed  outlook  of  Zion, 
“ Watchman,  what  of  the  night?”  and  heard  the  inspiring  reply, 
“The  morning  cometh,”  and  to-day  we  reverently  and  enthusiasti- 
cally enter  into  the  joys  of  this  Society  that  with  influence  far-reaching 


5 


and  blessings  innumerable  hastens  to  the  consummation  of  its  work, 
flying  the  divine  promise  upon  its  banners,  “ The  abundance  of  the 
sea  shall  be  converted  unto  Thee.” 

I should  be  recreant  to  my  own  nature  if  I were  not  ready  to  speak 
with  warm  and  generous  heart  for  those  who  sail  the  seas ; for  the 
blood  of  seafaring  men  flows  in  my  veins,  and  the  manly  form  of  him 
whose  name  I bear  was  snatched  from  sight  and  buried  with  the  ship 
he  commanded  in  the  angry  waves  of  the  ocean.  My  childish  ears 
were  assailed  with  the  story  of  the  cruel  storm,  the  dreadful  wreck, 
the  lonely  home,  the  greedy,  unsatisfied  sea.  I have  always  heard 
strange  sounds  in  its  restless  moaning.  The  busy  wharves  of  Boston, 
the  ships  that  there  discharged  their  prolific  cargoes,  the  vessels  that 
at  evening  dropped  down  the  rivers  towards  the  harbor  and  gave  us 
the  privilege  of  feeling  that  we  were  sailor  boys  for  awhile,  the  hard- 
fisted,  big-hearted  tars  who  were  my  boyhood  friends,  the  marine  and 
naval  hospitals  which  I constantly  visited  and  where  I did  some  of 
my  first  work  for  Christ,  the  old  Vermont,  receiving  ship  at  Charles- 
town Navy  Yard,  familiar  as  my  mother’s  kitchen,  the  long  sandy 
beach  where  I played,  now  swept  by  furious  waves  that  came  with 
resistless  might,  now  burned  to  blistering  heat  and  cooled  by  the 
lazy  waves  that  with  listless  motion  splashed  their  spray  in  the  hot 
summer  sun, — all  left  upon  me  their  deposit  of  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  the  sea  which  has  never  been  exhausted.  Moreover,  the  abundant 
and  beautiful  and  stimulating  teaching  of  Scripture  with  all  its 
exuberant  quickening  of  fancy  and  faith  concerning  the  sea  is  a never 
failing  source  of  deepening  interest;  while  the  admirable  publica- 
tions of  this  Society,  which  I have  diligently  perused  for  years,  have 
quickened,  deepened  and  enriched  that  interest.  With  loyal  heart 
and  true  I respond  to  every  early  inspiration  and  every  later  experi- 
ence as  I invite  your  attention  this  morning  to  some  thoughts  upon 

The  Mastership  of  the  Sea. 

The  text  is  in  the  gospel  of  Mark,  4th  chapter,  4lst  verse  : “ What 
manner  of  man  is  this,  that  even  the  wind  and  the  sea  obey  him  ? ” 

No  wonder  the  inspired  writer  preserved  the  word  “ even  ” as  it 
fell  from  these  lips.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  wind  and  sea 
would  heed  the  human  voice  though  all  other  things  were  obedient. 
Men  might  come  and  go  as  Jesus  commanded,  crowds  like  an  army 
might  move  at  His  word,  angels  might  recognize  their  heavenly  com- 
mander and  do  obeisance  and  render  instant  service,  devils  might 
fear  and  tremble  and  obey  their  great  Superior,  material  things  under 
the  operation  of  some  occult  law  might  yield  to  His  masterful  force. 


6 


but  wind  and  wave  would  be  unsubdued  still.  Their  obedience  would 
lift  the  human  spirit  to  the  climax  of  adoring  wonder.  And  so  these 
seamen  said  out  of  their  experience  in  battling  with  the  storm  in  days 
of  darkness  and  nights  of  peril,  “ What  manner  of  man  is  this,  that 
even  the  wind  and  the  sea  obey  him  ?” 

How  much  there  is  to  attract  us  this  morning  ! We  might  trace 
with  fascinating  speech  and  ever  enticing  thought  the  beneficent 
influence  of  the  sea,  the  wholesomeness  of  its  benediction  upon  the 
land,  the  divine  economy  in  its  construction  and  contents,  the  worth 
of  its  part  in  the  marriage  contract  that  the  Doge  of  Venice  made 
not  only  for  his  city  but  for  all  lands  and  for  all  time^,  and  learn 
that  a mightier  voice  than  his  declared,  “ What  God  hath  joined 
together,  let  not  man  put  asunder.” 

We  might  sit  by  the  sea  and  interpret  its  many  voices  for  all  the 
moods  of  the  spirit.  If  we  could  catch  and  separate  the  cries  that 
have  gone  up  from  its  uneasy  waves  through  the  centuries,  we  should 
be  well  instructed.  We  might  study  the  evolution  of  the  ocean 
steamer,  splendid  and  palatial,  from  the  ark  of  Noah,  the  corn  ship 
of  Alexandria  or  the  trireme  of  the  Eoman  ; we  might  scrutinize  the 
history  of  navigation,  the  successive  maritime  adventures  and  discov- 
eries to  quicken  our  sense  of  obligation  to  seamen  and  their  families. 

We  might  examine  men  whose  bronzed  cheeks  have  felt  the  ocean 
breezes,  ship  owners,  ship  captains,  sailors  of  every  name  and  every 
nation.  We  might  rehearse  the  devotion  of  the  men  of  the  sea,  and 
listen  to  the  prayers  that  have  been  offered  amid  the  howling  of  the 
tempest,  the  thundering  of  the  waves  and  the  plunging  of  the  ship 
for  the  strengthening  of  our  own  faith.  We  might  trace  the  relation 
of  commerce  to  national  prosperity  and  find  these  maritime  toils  at 
the  basis  of  our  common  comforts,  as  well  as  of  our  civic  and  national 
strength.  But  we  turn  from  all  these  alluring  themes  redolent  of 
abundant  harvests  for  heart  and  mind  and  spirit  to  this  simple  but 
significant  lesson  on  Sea  Sovereignty.  This  is  not  a new  subject. 
Men  have  studied  it  before  from  a personal  and  a national  standpoint. 
The  pirate  and  the  king  have  considered  it.  Battles  have  been  fought 
to  determine  it,  and  the  waves  have  been  incarnadined  with  human 
blood  to  establish  it.  Jesus  Christ  simply  uttered  a word  of  com- 
mand and  illustrated  Ilis  superior  claim.  He  prefaced  it  with  no 
declaration  of  ownership  ; He  required  the  use  of  no  flag  before  which 
all  others  should  instantly  bo  lowered.  He  commanded,  and  turbu- 
lent forces  quieted  to  the  peace  of  a healthy  sleep.  Men  saw  and 
wondered  and  recognized  a master. 

But  the  Nazareno  was  a landsman.  It  does  not  appear  that  He  ever 


7 


embarked  even  upon  the  Mediterranean;  He  knew  by  experience  only 
the  Sea  of  Galilee,  that  small  inland  body  of  water,  guarded  by  fer- 
tile hills  in  the  midst  of  a smiling  landscape.  But  wind  and  water  are 
the  same  everywhere.  It  takes  but  little  of  the  one  to  drown  a man 
and  little  of  the  other  to  wreck  a ship.  The  laws  that  control  them 
are  the  same  for  the  lake  and  the  ocean,  the  gust  and  the  cyclone. 
The  mastery  of  a part  is  the  command  over  all.  To  secure  the  obedi- 
ence of  a drop  is  to  direct  the  ebb  and  flow  of  oceans.  Apparently, 
however,  the  wind  and  the  sea  are  universal  masters  and  acknowledge 
no  superior  authority.  They  laugh  at  commands  and  smite  with 
withering  blow  every  agent  that  seeks  to  enthral  them.  Man  is 
impotent  in  their  presence.  He  exercises  his  dominion  on  the  land 
and  works  his  purposes  of  destruction  as  he  will,  and  looks  abroad 
upon  the  ocean  with  similar  intent  but  soon  discovers  that 

“His  control 

Stops  with  the  shore;  upon  the  watery  plain 
The  wrecks  are  all  thy  deed,  nor  doth  remain 
A shadow  of  man’s  ravage,  save  his  own. 

When,  for  a moment,  like  a drop  of  rain. 

He  sinks  into  thy  depths  with  bubbling  groan. 

Without  a grave,  unknelled,  uncofiBned  and  unknown.” 

The  sea  itself  is  an  imperious  autocrat.  It  asks  no  authority  for 
its  mighty  storms,  consults  with  no  one  concerning  its  cruel  ravages. 
It  combines  in  its  spirit  a thousand  Neros  in  its  merciless  slaughter. 
It  employs  innumerable  forces  and  tosses  the  mighty  creations  of  man 
like  tiny  bubbles  on  its  surface.  It  laughs  in  its  boisterous  might  at 
all  the  ingenious  efforts  of  man  to  subdue  it,  toys  with  him  till  he 
thinks  he  is  victor  and  then  in  passion  ruthlessly  crushes  his  majestic 
work.  In  the  moment  of  his  proudest  boast,  while  he  exhibits  his 
skilful  appliances  for  the  mastery  of  wind  and  wave,  it  engulphs  it  all 
out  of  sight.  It  rises  to  the  awful  height  of  mountain  ranges  and 
heaves  whole  Matterhorns  as  by  some  submarine  explosion  upon  the 
helpless  ships  that  venture  on  its  surface.  It  rolls  over  fair  acres  and 
submerges  them  forever.  It  hides  the  rocks  and  drives  the  innocent 
vessels  upon  them.  It  howls  and  shrieks  and  mocks  and  laughs,  and 
then  moans  and  wails  as  if  in  inconsolable  grief  for  its  sins.  It  hurls 
the  shining  mountains  of  glittering  ice  across  the  steamer’s  track, 
and  flings  up  its  spouting  torrents  to  startle  and  destroy.  It  shouts 
defiance  to  every  quarter  and  welcomes  every  fierce  antagonist  that 
dares  accept  its  challenge  to  combat.  It  buries  ten  thousand  fleets 
in  its  watery  chambers  ; it  entombs  millions  in  its  hidden  recesses  ; it 
is  the  cemetery  of  the  world,  and  its  countless  white  caps  are  the 


8 


headstones  of  the  people  of  all  the  nations.  It  regards  neither  age 
nor  learning  nor  station.  No  country  has  exemption  from  its  ravages; 
the  pirate  and  the  priest,  the  convict  and  the  missionary  are  alike 
overwhelmed. 

So  too  is  the  wind  an  independent  monarch.  It  loves  to  destroy. 
It  toys  gently  with  the  curls  on  an  infant’s  head  and  rising  in  fury 
levels  cities  that  lie  in  its  path,  hurling  huge  structures  from  their 
firm  foundations,  uprooting  trees  that  have  stood  the  storms  of  gen- 
erations, leaving  ruin  and  waste  in  its  track.  It  moves  out  upon  the 
shimmering  sea  and  lifts  its  billows  to  mountain  height,  drives  its 
tonnage  of  water  in  wild  alarm  before  it  and  sends  fear  into  the 
stoutest  hearts.  It  increases  in  might  till  nothing  can  stand  before 
it.  On  the  11th  of  April  (last  month)  the  ship  Coringa  was  off 
Mount  Desert,  a little  more  than  a hundred  miles  from  her  port  of 
destination,  when  a blizzard  from  the  east  struck  her,  and  blew  almost 
without  cessation  till  the  afternoon  of  April  16.  Waves  dashed  over 
the  ship  continually.  Sails  were  split  and  blown  entirely  out  of  the 
bolt  ropes.  Even  the  metal  on  the  ship’s  side  was  stripped  off  for 
forty  feet  on  the  starboard  bow.  She  lost  six  mainsails,  four  upper 
and  lower  topsails,  a foresail,  three  jibs,  two  staysails,  and  one  fore 
and  one  maintopgallantsail.  Both  port  and  starboard  main  and  miz- 
zen  chain-plates  were  broken,  and  boat  chocks  and  covers  washed 
away.  It  flings  huge  clouds  up  from  the  horizon,  drives  them  in  mad 
fury  before  it  and  gathers  them  into  whirlwinds  of  frightful  power. 
Its  movements  are  sometimes  electric  in  speed  and  power.  It  flies 
like  Parthian  arrow  from  a full  strung  bow,  and  leaps  like  a trained 
athlete  upon  its  victim.  When  Her  Majesty’s  training  ship  Eurydice 
was  returning  from  an  ocean  cruise,  and  was  rounding  Dunnose  head- 
land, off  the  Isle  of  Wight,  with  all  sails  set  and  flying  with  palpi- 
tating heart  towards  home,  in  a moment  she  was  struck  by  a gale 
that  leaped  upon  her  as  from  an  ambush.  All  orders  of  the  captain 
were  in  vain;  the  noble  ship  lurched,  bent  under  the  blow  till  her 
keel  was  visible,  capsized  and  bore  to  a watery  grave  three  hundred 
men  with  the  white  cliffs  of  home  shining  before  them. 

By  whatever  name  these  terrific  movements  of  air  are  known  they 
are  but  synonyms  of  a destructive  force  for  which  man  has  no  equal, 
before  which  he  cannot  stand,  in  the  presence  of  which  he  is  mute 
with  paralysis,  and  under  which  his  noblest  creations  lie  in  pitiful 
ruins.  When  wind  and  wave  combine,  when  the  titanic  force  of  one 
is  added  to  the  gigantic  energy  of  the  other  and  together  they  sport 
and  rave  in  the  wide  spaces  of  the  open  sea,  there  is  nothing  in  crea- 
tion that  can  parallel  the  awful  grandeur  of  their  displays  of  power. 


9 


They  are  a fit  symbol  of  a world  where  disorderly  spirits  have  risen 
in  rebellion,  Hung  aside  their  loyalty  to  God,  embittered  their  lives 
with  the  gall  of  sinful  transgressions,  forgotten  their  devotion  to 
kindred  spirits,  yielded  to  frantic,  diabolic  control  and  flung  them- 
selves in  desperate  encounter  upon  each  other  and  upon  their  great 
foe.  There  is  no  picture  that  can  equal  the  reality  of  the  combina- 
tion of  the  wind  at  its  highest  velocity  and  in  its  eccentric  move- 
ments and  the  sea  when  disturbed  by  its  most  violent  agitation. 
Language  is  powerless  to  describe  the  scene,  the  mind  is  inadequate 
to  conceive  it.  Yet  it  is  a faint  portrayal  of  the  rebellion  of  this 
world  against  God.  The  snarl  and  tangle,  the  greed  and  passion,  the 
hatred  and  fury,  the  cyclonic  wrath  and  virulent  hostility  against 
God,  the  union  of  demoniac  zeal  with  the  inflamed  energy  of  God’s 
own  immortal  children  made  in  Ilis  own  image  rising  in  determined 
resistance  against  Him  presents  the  reality  of  the  sin-conflict  of  this 
lost  world  before  which  the  raging  of  the  seas  is  the  quiet  of  a summer 
lake.  The  Son  of  God  in  the  august  horrors  of  Calvary,  dying  in 
atoning  sacrifice  amid  the  trembling  of  the  planet  alone  discloses  the 
measure  and  extent  of  this  sin-convulsion. 

The  absence  of  these  convulsive  forces  would  declare  in  emphatic 
form  the  retirement  of  God  from  the  planet.  While  they  are  fright- 
ful, they  are  encouraging.  They  declare  a strife  for  mastership  ; they 
reveal  competing  agents  ; they  suggest  a possible  change  in  final  direc- 
tion ; they  invite  to  a study  of  original  control ; they  uncover  prom- 
ises of  strange  import ; they  make  certain  the  presence  of  rescuing 
parties ; the  high  towers  of  engulphing  waves  are  rainbowed  by  sig- 
nals of  approaching  calm  and  radiant  sunshine  ; in  the  wildest  roar 
of  the  tempest  the  listening  ear  is  startled  by  a prophecy  of  an  ever- 
lasting calm.  The  hour  for  peace  has  not  yet  come  ; these  cataclysms 
must  continue  in  evidence  of  a rebuking  spirit,  an  unhappy  strife  till 
wilful  man  forsakes  his  sin,  yields  his  heart  to  the  beneficent  influ- 
ences of  a superb  atonement  and  a spiritual  alchemy,  under  the  power 
of  which  nature  will  lose  its  ferocity,  the  wind  and  the  sea  their 
boisterousness,  and  both  sink  into  an  unending  slumber. 

I.  Over  the  passionate  ocean  and  the  unbridled  wind  man  has 
attempted  to  assume  control.  The  first  claim  for  mastership  is 
human.  The  right  to  own  and  rule  the  watery  world  has  long  been 
the  greedy  desire  of  man.  He  has  wished  to  count  it  as  his  domain, 
make  laws  for  those  who  sail  upon  it,  use  it  for  his  own  aggrandize- 
ment. He  has  parcelled  it  out  as  a great  farm  for  the  occupancy  of 
himself  and  his  servants.  All  others  are  trespassers  under  the  ban 


10 


of  his  displeasure.  He  has  sought  to  understand  its  natural  laws  and 
wrest  its  secrets  so  as  to  enslave  it.  He  has  made  its  winds  sail  his 
vessels,  its  tides  and  currents  aid  his  enterprises,  its  vast  treasures 
enrich  his  exchequer;  he  has  eliminated  distance  and  separation  by 
his  discoveries  and  overcome  dangers  by  his  multiplied  inventions; 
he  has  pushed  his  claim  to  mastership  farther  and  farther  till  at 
length  he  has  cried  in  an  ecstasy  of  delight  “0  sea!  thou  art  my 
conquered  slave.” 

Nations  have  coveted  this  control  as  sign  of  their  supremacy. 
England’s  claim  to  rule  the  British  seas  is  of  ancient  date.  Arthur 
assumed  it  and  Alfred  defended  it.  Many  governmental  moasnrf's 
have  been  adopted  to  maintain  it.  Other  nations  have  resisted  this 
claim  and  naval  battles  have  been  fought  in  consequence  of  it. 
Delicate  and  serious  questions  have  arisen,  and  not  till  1863  was  the 
international  rule  of  the  road  at  sea  settled,  yet  in  six  years  following 
13,000  collisions  occurred.  A policy  of  armed  neutrality  existed, 
Russia,  Sweden  and  Denmark  contending  that  neutral  flags  protect 
neutral  bottoms,  but  the  British  cabinet  remonstrated,  war  followed 
and  the  system  disappeared  in  the  naval  crash.  Still  important 
questions  arise,  and  man  answers  man  in  his  claim  of  mastership. 
But  the  most  vigorous  answer  comes  from  the  sea  itself.  It  disclaims 
the  mastership.  It  trails  the  boasted  flag  in  its  waters  and  in  an 
instant  overwhelms  in  remediless  ruin  the  grandest  fleets.  Armadas 
sail  in  vain.  Skill,  prowess,  the  highest  fruits  of  genius  applied  with 
most  perfect  constructive  art  with  intent  to  meet  all  the  exigencies 
of  the  seas  are  as  easily  met  and  conquered  as  when  man  sailed  in  a 
caraval  or  Viking  ship.  The  floating  palace  of  iron  groans  in  anguish 
and  sinks  from  sight  like  the  poor  product  of  barbaric  days.  The 
sea  still  is  master.  The  history  of  wrecks  is  the  sad  story  of  man’s 
weak  claim  to  mastery.  The  compilation  of  the  facts  of  the  ravages 
of  the  sea  are  appalling.  The  catalogue  of  twenty-seven  years  gives 
61,623  wrecks  with  9,566  total  wrecks  and  a loss  of  22,782  lives. 
From  500  to  1,000  lives  are  thus  lost  every  year,  and  this  is  but  im- 
perfect report.  There  are  seaports  where  every  family  is  a mourner 
and  the  name  of  some  towns  is  synonymous  with  ocean  wreckage. 
There  is  no  kind  of  vessel  that  has  not  been  overcome,  there  is  no 
kind  of  seamanship  that  has  not  been  defeated,  there  is  no  amount 
of  watchfulness  that  has  kept  from  rocks,  and  collisions,  and  the 
rude  battering  of  the  sea.  The  catalogue  of  wrecks  with  lives  lost 
makes  the  story  of  battles  upon  the  land  with  lists  of  the  slain  seem 
unworthy  of  mention.  The  very  air  of  some  places  is  filled  with  the 


11 


moaning  of  distress.  And  yet  the  waves  sport  and  frolic  with  no 
thought  or  sign  of  loss  of  power.  The  sea  is  a Uerod  of  Ilerods. 

“Thy  shores  are  empires,  changed  in  all  save  thee — 

Assyria,  Greece,  Rome,  Carthage,  what  are  they? 

Thy  waters  wasted  them  while  they  were  free. 

And  many  a tyrant  since;  their  shores  obey 
The  stranger,  slave  or  savage;  their  decay 
Has  dried  up  realms  to  deserts;  not  so  thou. 

Unchangeable  save  to  thy  wild  waves’  play — 

Time  writes  no  wrinkle  on  thine  azure  brow — 

Such  as  creation’s  dawn  beheld,  thou  rollest  now.” 

Man’s  mastership  of  the  sea  is  contested  and  defeated  at  every 
point ; he  retreats  with  faltering  step  and  wretched  heart  from  the 
unequal  strife  for  honors. 

II.  The  second  claimant  for  mastership  of  the  sea  is  made  by 
Satan,  the  great  spiritual  enemy  of  man.  He  seeks  to  rule  by  ruling 
men.  His  claim  is  boastful  and  defiant.  He  creates  the  universal 
impression  that  all  who  follow  the  sea  are  his  natural  subjects.  He 
multiplies  every  sort  of  machinery  for  their  capture.  He  plays  upon 
genial  good  nature  and  noble  generosity  ; he  plans  to  gratify  tastes 
and  passions  on  land  that  cannot  be  indulged  during  a voyage ; he 
clusters  about  the  wharves  and  in  adjacent  neighborhoods  where  are  the 
sinks  of  iniquity  and  the  wretched  venders  of  intoxicants;  he  lays  snares 
for  careless  feet  and  has  his  minions  ready  with  the  current  lies  that 
sailors  are  not  expected  nor  wanted  in  Christian  churches  nor  in  cul- 
tivated homes,  that  the  brothel  and  the  saloon  teem  with  their  friends, 
that  they  are  an  outcast  community  by  themselves,  and  that  debauchery 
and  drunkenness  on  land  are  to  atone  for  their  hardships  at  sea. 
The  sailor  has  been  made  to  feel  that  no  one  cared  for  his  soul,  that 
recklessness  was  an  essential  element  in  his  success,  that  prayer  and 
piety,  good  books,  clean  language  and  a pure  heart  were  not  consistent 
with  his  calling.  So  many  thought  for  too  many  years.  The  great 
enemy  secured  his  booty.  He  sent  Ralph  Rovers  to  cut  the  bells  from 
Inchcape  Rocks,  to  extinguish  the  lights  on  dangerous  coasts,  to 
undermine  faith  in  God  and  His  Bible  and  crowd  the  reckless  class 
into  the  business  of  the  sea.  He  persuaded  owners  and  captains  to 
supply  quantities  of  grog  and  made  the  forecastle  the  place  for 
indoctrination  in  lewd  and  blasphemous  stories,  and  set  bravado 
and  stoicism  for  hours  of  peril  and  disaster.  This  noble  vocation 
has  thus  been  honeycombed  with  vice  and  crime  and  the  sea  made 
the  arena  for  the  display  of  superlative  qualities  of  life  in  the  service 
of  a wicked  master.  Hard  masters  have  been  encouraged,  poor  pro- 


12 


visions  have  been  considered  sufficient,  slight  remuneration  has  been 
counted  enough,  and  thus  the  thraldom  of  Satan  has  been  strength- 
ened. Land  sharks  have  emulated  the  diabolism  of  their  master. 
But  this  dominion  has  been  resisted  and  its  authority  denied.  Good 
influences  have  contended  for  the  right  of  way,  good  men  and  women 
have  sought  the  removal  of  corrupting  customs,  the  gospel  of  Christ 
has  driven  the  swine  from  many  a ship  into  the  sea,  prayer  has  dis- 
placed profanity  and  the  false  ruler  been  ejected  from  his  throne. 
The  combat  has  deepened  and  the  black  flag  of  the  cruel  and  despotic 
monarch  of  sin  been  removed  and  the  blood-stained  banner  of  the 
cross  substituted.  Even  the  mad  frolics  of  the  sea  itself,  its  enforced 
sufferings,  and  accumulated  dangers,  its  terrific  contortions  and  sub- 
lime displays  of  grandeur  and  beauty  have  softened  and  regulated  the 
human  spirit  and  wrested  it  from  persistent  sin. 

The  sailor  is  no  more  the  natural  child  of  evil  than  the  landsman. 
He  is  often  the  favorite  child  of  the  household,  with  vivid  imagi- 
nation, and  poetic  soul  and  generous  instincts  and  a roving  disposition. 
His  first  experience  of  hardship  is  often  on  the  sea.  His  knowledge 
of  sin  begins  there ; his  first  wicked  stories  are  heard  in  the  forecastle, 
and  his  evil  training  is  after  and  not  before  he  becomes  a sailor. 
Many,  however,  yield  to  no  such  training,  but  preserve  their  purity 
and  dignity  of  character  through  all  the  satanic  enticements.  Nature’s 
noblemen  are  found  among  ship- owners  who  provide  every  comfort 
and  every  religious  influence  on  board  their  ships,  ship  captains  who 
preserve  the  family  life  and  conduct  family  prayers  and  guard  the 
young  with  parental  interest,  sailors  who  pour  out  their  heart’s 
adoration  before  Him  who  bought  them  with  His  own  precious  blood. 
They  are  often  simple  hearted  as  children,  swing  in  the  cradle  of 
influence  as  easily  as  in  the  ocean  billows,  passionate  and  impulsive 
as  powder,  dancing  a hornpipe  or  singing  a psalm  according  to  the 
mood  of  the  hour.  They  are  as  many-hued  as  the  pearl  of  the  shells 
they  gather  and  bring  from  afar  as  affectionate  tokens  of  remem- 
brance, and  become  thoroughly  cosmopolitan  from  contact  and 
association  with  people  of  every  clime.  It  is  significant  that  sailors 
were  among  the  earliest  disciples  and  were  made  apostles.  They 
resent  the  dominion  of  Satan  and  by  grace  defy  his  control.  Still 
Satan  strives  for  the  mastery. 

Is  there  then  no  one  of  royal  spirit  and  magisterial  power  who  can 
meet  and  equal  these  tremendous  forces  ? Is  wind  only  air  in  motion 
that  cannot  be  seen  nor  handled,  superior  to  man  with  all  his  boastful 
intelligence  and  skill  ? Must  he  acknowledge  defeat  in  its  presence  ? 
Can  no  force  be  found  adequate  to  curb  and  hold  in  galling  fetters 


13 


these  natural  elements  that  seem  at  times  so  uninfluential  ? Is  it 
possible  that  water,  that  may  be  changed  into  gases  that  disappear 
from  sight,  must  be  acknowledged  as  holding  the  throne  against  all 
contestants  ? Is  Neptune  with  his  trident  more  a reality  than  a 
mythological  force  ? Cannot  merchants  and  scientists  and  chemists 
and  captains  and  sailors  combine  to  subdue  this  giant  of  Gath  ? Is 
there  no  David  anywhere  ? Cannot  science  discover  the  subtle  ele. 
ment  that  like  oil  ujion  the  waters  will  quiet  the  restless  chafing,  and, 
taken  in  sufficient  quantities,  purge  the  monster  of  his  cruelty  ? Can 
the  artist  only,  of  all  created  things  and  beings,  give  us  a sea  that  will 
not  torture,  that  will  obey  ? Is  there  safety  only  in  “a  painted  ship 
upon  a painted  ocean  ?”  May  not  the  sweet  amenities  of  the  sea  be 
brought  into  such  vital  contact  that  there  shall  exude  from  them 
some  soporific,  that  like  morphine  in  the  human  system  shall  assuage 
the  riotous  and  refractory  moods  of  the  monarch  ? Cannot  some  one 
be  found  in  these  modern  days  to  hypnotize  the  ocean  ? Must  the 
mastership  of  the  sea  ever  remain  an  unsolved  problem,  the  scepter 
passing  from  hand  to  hand  till  time  and  sea  shall  be  no  more  ? Nol 
It  has  a master  to  whom  it  gives  instant  and  unquestioning  obedience. 

III.  The  real  mastership  of  the  sea  is  found  in  Jesus  Christ.  The 
untamed  fury  of  its  winds  and  waves  is  subdued  by  a word  from  His 
peerless  lips  ; the  haughty  assumption  of  man  yields  to  His  advancing 
sway ; the  braggart  insolence  of  the  usurping  Satan  is  met  by  the 
power  of  the  exorcist  who  drives  him  from  his  subject  and  tramples 
him  under  his  feet.  It  was  because  the  early  disciples  knew  the 
elements  involved  in  this  strife  for  the  mastership  of  the  sea  that 
amazement  rose  within  them  when  they  saw  its  final  master  and 
cried,  “ What  manner  of  man  is  this  that  even  the  wind  and  the  sea 
obey  him  ?” 

Christ’s  claim  of  mastership  of  the  sea  is  valid  : 

I.  Because  He  created  it  and  so  owns  it.  “ The  sea  is  His,  for  He 
made  it,”  sang  the  inspired  Psalmist.  The  vast  hollows  in  the  planet 
were  made  to  hold  the  liquid  mass  that  was  called  into  its  place  by 
the  very  voice  that  again  commanded  it  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  The 
marvellous  laws  that  govern  it  were  the  fruit  of  His  mind  and  were 
enacted  by  His  decree.  It  is  His  “Thus  far  but  no  further”  that 
holds  it  at  the  border  of  continents,  and  steadies  the  movements  of 
its  tidal  waves.  All  its  wonders  are  His  creation.  Its  slime,  where 
arrogant  man  discovered  as  he  thought  the  beginning  of  life,  its 
marvellous  noctilucae  from  whose  phosphorescent  glow  the  submarine 


14 


beauty  is  revealed,  its  strength  like  that  of  fabled  gods,  its  power  to 
destroy  have  all  originated  with  Him  who  trod  upon  its  surface  as 
upon  a marble  floor  and  who  has  used  it  for  manifold  purposes  of 
mercy  which  the  thoughtful  minds  of  many  ages  have  been  enabled  to 
discern. 

There  is  no  enigma  in  His  mastership.  He  made  it  and  owns  it 
and  masters  it.  Its  every  drop,  beautiful  with  all  the  colors  of  the 
prism,  ready  to  leap  into  moisture  and  ride  in  the  aerial  chariots  to 
soften  and  make  fruitful  the  springing  glebe,  its  saline  crystals,  faith- 
ful guardians  against  decay  and  miasma,  its  undulation,  symbol  of 
the  ceaseless  activity  of  its  great  Creator,  all  that  is  involved  in  its 
multiform  phases  existed  first  in  the  mind  of  Him  who  is  its  supreme 
master.  It  is  accomplishing  His  will  in  the  vast  range  of  its  incom- 
prehensible influence  upon  the  physical,  commercial,  social,  intellec- 
tual, scientific,  religious  life  of  the  planet.  He  has  made  it  to  be  the 
theatre  of  the  world  for  the  display  of  His  wonders. 

Christ’s  claim  of  mastership  is  valid  : 

II.  Because  it  is  a part  of  the  world  that  He  died  to  redeem. 
The  misery  and  wretchedness  of  this  world  is  the  fruit  of  sin.  It  is 
man’s  work.  There  was  no  sigh  in  any  breeze,  there  was  no  moan  in 
any  ocean  wave  till  man  came  by  sin  into  a condition  to  so  interpret 
it.  From  the  infinitesimal  insect  that  floated  in  the  smallest  bubble 
to  the  monster  that  needed  the  ocean  for  its  home,  from  the  gentlest 
wavelet  that  lapped  a floral  shore  to  the  mightiest  billow  that  crashed 
upon  a rocky  cliff  in  the  days  of  human  innocence,  all  was  reflective 
of  divine  love  and  bounty.  Sin  invited  Satan  to  contend  for  mastery. 
The  thorn  in  the  garden  and  the  jagged  reef  under  the  sea  betoken 
transgression.  Man  on  land  and  on  sea  has  alike  fallen. 

But  the  Son  of  God  died  to  save.  His  ransoming  work  was  com- 
plete, and  touches  with  freshening  and  cleansing  power  all  things.  By 
it  man  rises  to  pristine  purity  and  beauty  and  the  whole  creation  is 
to  be  renewed.  The  ferocious  instinct  shall  desert  the  animal,  the 
destructive  element  be  withdrawn  from  nature  in  all  her  forms,  the 
desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose,  and  the  mighty  sea  shall 
retain  all  its  sublimity  and  grandeur  and  lose  all  its  destructive  agency 
when  the  kingdom  of  God  is  established  and  triumphant.  Its  miles 
of  emerald  billows  rocking  under  the  sun-lit  azure,  sparkling  as  the 
fit  pavement  for  the  feet  of  its  Creator,  shall  be  as  harmless  as  the 
dimpled  lawns  that  stretch  away  from  summer  homes,  its  mountain 
ranges  with  glittering  dome  and  castle  and  tower  and  burnished  lines 
of  ever-vanishing  and  ever- renewing  guards  of  honor,  shall  be  as 
glorious  and  attractive  as  the  snow-crowned  Alps. 


15 


Wasting  and  destruction  shall  not  be  heard  within  all  her  borders. 
This  saving  work  reaches  and  changes  also  the  men  of  the  sea.  Their 
hearts  will  be  filled  with  the  love  of  God  under  this  all  conquering 
mastery  of  Jesus  Christ,  their  minds  will  be  freighted  with  the 
thoughts  of  God,  their  lives  will  be  reckoned  among  the  saving  forces 
of  the  world,  their  journeys  will  be  the  sailing  of  argosies  of  spiritual 
as  well  as  material  bounties,  and  every  shore  alike  will  welcome  the 
merchant  ship  and  its  men  as  brothers  welcome  brothers.  All  the 
ripened  knowledge  of  God  which  one  attains  will  be  speedily  com- 
municated to  another,  the  sea  will  be  resplendent  with  the  silken 
sails  of  the  gospel  ships,  its  winds  be  laden  with  the  songs  of  Zion,  its 
abundance  will  all  be  converted  unto  Christ;  it  will  itself  become  the 
symbol  of  the  unfathomable  grace  and  glory  of  God,  and  at  the  last 
it  will  but  suggest  and  refiect  the  sea  of  glass  like  unto  crystal  that 
disappeared  in  the  eternal  unity  and  inseparable  fellowship  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom,  wherein  was  gathered  the  buried  treasure  that 
oceans  had  engulphed  and  within  whose  ample  borders  there  was 
finally  no  more  sea. 

The  mastership  of  Christ  is  complete.  He  makes.  He  redeems. 
He  rescues.  He  abolishes. 

To  seek  the  accomplishment  of  His  purposes  in  regard  to  the  sea  is 
indeed  a noble  endeavor.  To  toil  under  such  a master  in  such  a field 
is  unspeakable  privilege.  Such  is  the  work  of  the  American  Sea- 
men's Friend  Society.  To  diminish  the  dangers  to  the  body,  soul 
and  spirit  of  the  men  of  the  sea,  to  exalt  their  manhood,  ennoble 
their  enthusiasm,  make  their  ships  like  Christian  homes,  fill  their 
lips  with  prayers  and  praises,  make  the  shores  hospitable  to  them  and 
every  man  their  friend  as  Jesus  was,  to  disciple  them  all  into  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  to  make  every  sailor  a herald  and  messenger  of 
salvation,  to  awaken  their  expectation  for  the  fulfilment  in  their  own 
experience  of  some  of  the  most  wonderful  and  stimulating  words  of 
Scripture, — this  is  work  worthy  the  best  of  human  effort,  and  this  for 
sixty-six  years  has  been  the  glorious,  entrancing,  successful  work  of 
this  Society.  May  it  continue  till  the  Master  of  the  sea  shall  have 
met  every  worker  at  the  bar,  and,  having  brought  each  with  rejoicing 
to  the  heavenly  port,  dismiss  the  Society  because  all  Christian  work 
upon  the  planet  is  completed. 


AMERICAN  SEAMEN’S  FRIEND  SOCIETY, 

76  Wall  Street,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  U.  S.  A. 

Organized  Mat,  1828.  Incorporated  April,  1833. 


PRESIDENT  : 

Mr.  CHARLES  H.  TRASK. 

VICE-PRESIDENT  : 

Mr.  HORACE  GRAY. 

SECRETARY  : 

Rev.  W.  C.  STITT,  D.  D. 

TREASURER  : 

Mr.  william  C.  STURGES. 

FINANCIAL  AGENT  AND  ASSISTANT  TREASURER  : 

Mr.  LUTHER  P.  HUBBARD. 


In  the  year  1893,  the  Society  sustained  Bethels,  Sailors’  Homes,  etc., 
Chaplains,  Missionaries,  Colporteurs,  and  Bihle 
Headers,  (in  all,  35)  in  thirty-two  foreign 
and  domestic  seaports. 


Since  the  year  1858-9  (to  December  1,  1893)  it  has  sent  out  9,990 
new  Loan  Libraries  (518,395  volumes),  accessible  by 
original  shipment  and  re-shipment  to  more 
than  379,661  seamen.  $20  sends  a 
Library  to  sea  in  the  name 
of  the  Donor. 


The  Sailors’  Magazine  (66th  volume)  is  published  monthly,  at 

$1.00  per  annum. 


The  Life  Boat,  50  copies  monthly  for  one  year,  free,  to  Sunday 
Schools  giving  $20  for  a Library. 

The  Society  has  always  aimed  to  give  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  the 
seamen  of  the  world’s  naval  and  mercantile  marine, 
and  in  every  way  to  befriend  the  sailor. 

Contributions  may  be  sent  to  the  Treasurer,  and  a Form  of  Bequest, 
for  testamentary  aid  of  its  work,  will  be  sent  to 
any  applicant  for  the  same. 


